Two Blue Lines
by SailorSilvanesti
Summary: [AU Challenge] "Without a second thought but for his beloved Lily, the shaggy dark-haired man managed a gracefully unco-ordinated series of movements and gestures in quick succession that gave him the appearance of a drunken black swan waddling through the woods." Response to a Challenge: Lily was Pregnant when she died, Snape was to be the Godfather. I did my best. AU.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the associated characters.**

Hello everyone, it's been a long while, yes... but I was given the challenge on the idea that Lily was Pregnant with a second child when she died, and Snape was to be the Godparent. I was asked to do my take on it.

**This is AU, so don't say that it 'isn't true', I know that... it's called fanfiction. Imagination. Etc.**

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**~*Two Blue Lines*~**

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"J-James?" came the cry that woke him from dreams and half-remembered memories of Quidditch from his school days… including, well, that one unfortunate incident where the Bludger had come from underneath the broomstick –_couldn't mount a bloody thing for weeks afterwards_… Suddenly, the alarm registered as the call came again… Lily!

Her voice was high-pitched and strained with an emotion that the suddenly-awakened and befuddled wizard could not gather from tone or inflection alone; leaving him reeling from the unexpected nap he'd been having, with a heart that pounded in the aftermath of the second call-to-arms of his name, as it echoed down the hallways of their large, roomy house...

Down, down, down the call came; like an urgently playful puppy bounding down each of the stairs in turn, and then on through the immaculate -if overly-green- kitchen. Straight through the door to the very workshop wherein James found himself tinkering with a strange new Muggle contraption, -known as a 'toaster'- as a little side-project for his close friend who was obsessed with Muggle 'artefacts'. Arthur Weasley… strange chap, always been fascinated with the Muggles, he had…

Swirling thoughts continued to jumble into knots about Muggles and redheads, particularly that vivacious Molly that Arthur had married shortly after graduating from Hogwarts… but then the bespectacled man shook himself from his daydream state, nearly toppling the pieces of burnt bread he'd been 'testing' the device with, to the floor in his haste.

Suddenly the world was in razor-sharp focus, all fuzzy thoughts from his nap were erased as the call came a third time, however it was lower and full of a different emotion now, disbelief; one that set fire in his belly as he heard a second noise begin, one he knew oh, too well.

Without a second thought but for his beloved Lily, the shaggy dark-haired man managed a gracefully unco-ordinated series of movements and gestures in quick succession that gave him the appearance of a drunken black swan waddling through the woods.

Dropping his wand on the bench then snatching it up on a reprisal of the situation, James nearly lost his glasses as he stumbled over the sturdy oak chair he had -so recently as a second ago- been sitting on; finally bounding clear from the mangled fray of limbs and chair legs to land in the kitchen. With a rolling of eyes heavenward, the lanky man gave a great sigh, disapperating to the bottom of the stairs, whereupon he paused long enough to shout her name up the carpeted incline. Externally calm, onlookers would never guess how damn scared the man really was, quaking internally… half-afraid of what he might find, half-hopeful that this was a good thing...

The wizard barely felt his shoes tread upon the carpet as he took the stairs three-at-a-time, hitting the top of the staircase and racing on towards the muted yellow of the open bathroom door, before even realising he'd stopped ascending.

One does not simply 'stop abruptly' with the amount of momentum James had built up in his mad, haphazard, all-out sprint…

And true to form, the wizard skidded right past the open bathroom door, and… straight into the adjacent maroon wall with significant force, paintings grumbled as their frames shuddered from impact… but he wasn't even listening to them. The slide past had provided James with only the briefest flash of a shocked looking redhead grasping something in her hands, and he made it back to the door as the other familiar noise grew louder, building into a tempestuous maelstrom of sound…

An… oncoming storm, if you will.

"J-James…?" came the suddenly-soft voice he knew and loved so dearly, her long red hair cascaded over the shoulders of a midnight blue nightgown as Lily Potter poked her head around the corner, emerald-like green eyes wide and surprised…. No, …awed. Full of wonder and excitement… and just a hint of fear. Wonderful, now he wasn't sure what to feel, let alone which emotion to openly display… Happy? Sad? The wrong one might get him hexed for a month, Lily was always quite the little Charms expert…

Her slender hand gestured to come into the bathroom as her head disappeared, and he wrung shaking hands in anticipation… any news was good, wasn't that the Muggle saying? No, wait… it was the other way around, or was it…? Perhaps it was-…

"James, get in here now please. I have something to tell you…" came a commanding tone his dear wife rarely used, except in the instance of his refusing to help with the clearing away or washing up after dinner, or… well… whenever he came home after a 'little' too much Fire-whiskey, singing somewhat depraved songs at the top of his lungs to a chorus of Lupin, Sirius and Peter's slurred voices… To put the whole scenario in perspective… he hurried to obey.

Only to dodge rather abruptly as a small vial of what he KNEW was _not_ ALL potion, was thrust in his face, practically clinking off of his round glasses. It took a second to focus, granted the item was millimetres from his nose, and therefore, had several vague duplicates swimming around it… when the colour of the vial registered… "Gr- Green?" he stammered, eyes widening with surprise, "Are you sure that's- ? I mean, did you recheck the instructions? Are you sure that means- and not-…?"

Her laughter was as soft as tinkling bells in a languid summer breeze, " '_Red for No, Green for Yes, With Miss Treacle's brew, You'll Never Have to Guess_!'" Lily recited with a sing-song air, the jingle faded away as the implications sunk in finally. James gasped, clutched the tiny cupboard in the room, and sat straight down on the toilet… silently thankful Lily had always been a firm believer in leaving the lid down when not in use… and took a minute. "I… but… this… we're pregnant?" he finally managed, looking up at the serenely smiling face of his wife.

She practically glowed. "Where does this 'we' part come into it…? You've done your part," she teased, then blinked and seemed to notice for the first time, the miserable howling that called from down the hallway. Mothering instincts took over than James could blink, and Lily disappeared down the hall, cooing and hushing until she reached the side of her soon-to-be-eldest-child's crib. "Oh Harry, darling… Mummy's here, it's okay, sweetie." He snuggled into the safe, warmth that was her arms and surrendered his distress to the comforting rocking motion she employed to soothe…

James followed slowly down the hallway, creeping into the nursery with all the timidness of a sparrow gliding silently past a hungry kestrel, ever-wary so as not to wake up the almost sleeping child. "So," he whispered, "should we tell him now or later that he's going to be a big brother…?" With a grin, James reached out to gently stroke Harry's tuft of downy black hair… well, fluff, but he was definitely the spitting image of him. Except… except for his eyes, they were his mother's eyes.

They opened slightly to look at the human so recently labelled '_dada_', gurgling as the baby fell back to slumber while his father was reminded of how extraordinarily beautiful their son was… Definitely inherited his old man's dashing good looks, but again… those large, expressive eyes the glistening green shade of the ocean… they were all Lily's doing. Harry was truly the perfect blend of the both of them… of their love...

It was then he allowed his thoughts to wander, to think upon the child the home-pregnancy potion had confirmed existed, who slumbered even now within the radiant flower that was his wife and soulmate… Would he or she be like little Harry, only just 18 months old this morning, October 31st? Or perhaps, the child would look, instead, of their gorgeous mother? Perhaps with his eyes, or… –well, no… he wouldn't wish his hair on any child… it was like an excited pygmy puff, never sitting still… and always seemed to have a mind of it's own!

He swooped in to place an affectionate kiss on Lily's cheek, just beaming like an idiot as it finally hit him he was going to be a dad twice over… and was excited beyond belief… but naturally, a dark thought crossed his mind, and ended the delighted feeling… "Lily, what about… well, the promise? Are you sure we can trust him… I mean, after all I did kind of-… he was a jerk to you-… in school, I mean." He started, only for the redhead to look at him with an open disbelief born of humour, and laugh at his words; Harry jerking awake in shock.

She fixed him a curious look, not unlike that of a cat eying a bowl of cream that had been placed before it. "Are you telling me, James Potter… that the sheer fact Lord Vol-… _You-Know-Who_ is chasing us to try and kill our only child –uh… I should say, '_eldest son' _now I suppose," she laughed at her own words, and without even raising her voice, he knew he had lost the argument before it was over… though she continued,"…and this somehow this scares you _LESS_ than the idea of making one of my oldest, dearest friends -Severus Snape- the godfather of our future child, of Harry? As well as Sirius, of course…"

The woman could make a small fortune as a Howler, if only she felt like being the world's first humanoid letter…

He dragged himself back to the present, listening to the thread of conversation so previously elusive, recognising both the names of his closest friend… and greatest enemy. The argument –if that was even what it had been in that one-sided verbal debate- had been lost before his dear Lily had even finished speaking, and so, James gave up any notions of changing his wife's mind. Sighing, he affixed a smile to his face and looked down upon the once-again awakened Harry, who had chosen to grasp at his father's robes with pudgy little hands, rather than scream, this time. "Hello my little man, how are you today… are you tired? Do you need a nappy change? Perhaps you're hungry…?" he suggested, then frowned; no… he clearly remembered feeding his son, only… he glanced at the clock… an hour ago, apparently. "Just restless then, little man…? Alright, come here, then…"

Harry clung to his father like a baby koala to it's mother, and Lily sank into the rocking chair by the cot, smiling and watching as James paced about the room humming one of his favourite songs. Lily's eyes began to droop closed slowly, and he started to move further out of the room, the paced circle slow, rhythmic, and encompassing more and more of the corridor than previously; growing larger with each completion. Until, of course, Lily recognised the tune he was humming and her emerald eyes snapped open, affixing him with a gaze so sharp he felt skewered… Obviously, she disapproved of… 'those sorts' of songs… but Harry had no idea that the tune he found so soothing had a rather… 'adult' flavour to its lyrics. She glared a moment more, then seemed to find the whole thing comical, and sank back in the chair, giggling softly behind a hand, eyes dancing with laughter.

There could not be a more perfect moment than this, he felt, watching the moon dip over the rise of Godric's Hollow and continue on its eternal path up to take the place of the Sun, in the sky. Lunar light fascinating the child in his arms, whose pudgy hands shot out to grasp at moonbeams that fell through the curtains; green eyes wide with excitement. James smiled, "Ah Harry, one day you will understand just how much your mother and I love you, son. You are just so little, and yet, in a few months… you're going to be a big brother…" Now, he wasn't sure whether Harry had caught the strange inflection in his voice, or his son actually understood what was being said, but the quizzical look on the infant's face when he turned his head to gaze directly at his father sent both parents into paroxysms of giggles. "Th- *heh* That's right Harry, you're going to be a big brother… to a little brother or sister, isn't that exciting? Someone to… fingerpaint daddy's important work-scrolls with, or dress up in mummy's robes with…" he noted the child's wide eyes were continuously caught by the dancing moonlight, "…or chase the moonbeams with. But remember, we love you, Harry, no matter what happens, alright?"

Harry nodded his head with a cheesy grin managed by only the mentally insane and toddlers, then turned back, wiggling in his father's arms, to snatch at the light falling through the crack in the curtains. James laughed, moving closer to let the little boy have a greater chance of getting a 'handful' of the luminous light that so captivated him… and froze.

A shiver seemed to pass through him… there was someone at the gate. Several someones.

Seeing his rigid posture, Lily came up behind him, then turned, running for their room… for her wand; but he gave chase, clutching Harry to him desperately. He caught her on the landing outside their room, coming out again with her wand clutched firm in her hand. "Here, take Harry," he handed the little boy over, their son, who was trying to be brave and not blubber… for he was very frightened… but James kissed Harry's forehead on the right… Where the little boy had once told them both, was his 'magic spot', much to their amusement. Lily clutched his robes tightly as he turned, and pulled him close, almost like she was trying to merge them into one…

He knew. She knew. This was the end.

If Harry could be saved, there was no cost too high… so they would try. Lily's beautiful green eyes pulled back to look directly into his own, swooping in like a bird of prey for one last, desperate kiss… before a roaring voice and explosion announced they were no longer alone in their own house. "Lily, take Harry and run, go into the Nursery, lock the door… Tell him… tell him his father loved him. Oh, I love you my Lily of the Vale…" he whispered, voice hoarse with sadness as he turned to stand his ground. From the corner of his eye, as a curse flew over his head from a cackling Bellatrix Lestrange, James watched Lily mouth 'I will, I love you…', before slamming shut the door to the Nursery room.

With his wife and son, no… children… safe, James Potter bravely turned to face the Death Eaters in his home; he threw spells, and curses, hexes and jinxes, and someone was on the receiving end of a rather nasty disintegrating charm… He was just half hoping that whoever he'd hit ended up losing something vital, when the tables turned; the world spun, swirling inky darkness appeared to suck light and life from the world, and… HE appeared. The Dark Lord himself, come to murder an infant… it would be almost laughable, if it had been a joke… but it wasn't; Voldemort wanted his son, and he knew that there was no other option, no way out of this except to fight for the life he wanted Harry to have. His son had to live.

The correct words for a paralysing hex erupted from his lips, but the purple light was simply deflected with casual ease… and a sneer; Voldemort was toying with him… James bridled at the insult, and changed tact… he threw a killing curse, and prayed that the rest of the Order arrived in time to save Lily, Harry and… their other child.

As if this had been the cue the Dark Lord was waiting for, Voldemort grinned widely and splayed his wand wide, to bat aside the killing curse as if it were an annoying fly, flickering his eyes from James to the Nursery door before screaming, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Strangely, though he knew he was going to die… all the fear and anxiousness seemed to seep away, and in the very, very last few seconds of his life, James Potter smiled as he realised the killing curse held the same colour as Lily and Harry's eyes. His last conscious thought… was to hope their future child had Lily's eyes too…

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Lily Potter was a creature of strong make, but even so… when Voldemort burst into the small confines of the Nursery, and her screams went unheard by her husband… she resolved to die bravely… to save her child… and gave him the greatest gift a mother could afford. Protection, born from love.

Although she grieved that she would never see Harry, or indeed, their unknown child grow up… a part of her was glad that she knew he would be safe… between Sirius, Remus, Peter, Arthur, Molly, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Severus… Harry should be just fine. A small, sad smile played about her lips as Voldemort offered her the choice to step aside one very… last… time…

In her last second, Lily Potter turned to face her son, who stared with wide eyes the mirror of her own, from his crib; and whispered, "Your father and I love you so much, Harry… Never forget that!", and then she screamed as something struck her from behind… but it was all over before she hit the floor. She did not see the Dark Lord level his wand at her son, nor the Killing Curse rebound and strike Voldemort, forever marking her son in his 'magic spot'… and destroying the body of the greatest evil ever to plague magical and mugglekind…

Lily Potter was not there to see the frantic man in black robes who ran into the house under cover of night; James Potter was not there to question why the man was so utterly distraught that he ignored the wailing infant in the crib, and instead held the body of the child's mother tight as tears ran freely down pale cheeks. What they did see, from a place far away where touch and sound with the remaining was denied, however… was the way the dark-robed man so tenderly pulled the child from the crib, shielding the little boy's eyes to the carnage around him, until they were outside…

The Potters saw the man rock back and forth to soothe the child, humming a 'slightly' less deplorable song than that James had employed earlier in the evening… until the child slept, a handful of the man's dark locks entwined in a tiny pudgy hand. As the roaring sound of a motorbike finally became audible, and a hulking shape on the motorised contraption appeared… James and Lily felt it was time for them to go…

Their eyes lingered only for a moment on the man who held their son, Lily smiling through transparent tears the colour of Harry's beloved moonbeams… and James letting a small grin steal over his features as he took his wife's hand for their final adventure, and whispered, "I was wrong… he would have made a wonderful godfather…"

They turned to leave, their destination unknown… but something called like a siren, guiding them… but Lily chanced to look back a final time, to find Severus staring straight at her with a sleeping Harry in his arms while Hagrid landed in the distance… and her tears stopped completely.

"Yes, James… I'm sure he will…"

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**The End.**

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**If you enjoyed this story, please REVIEW.**

**This was a random little idea that I wrote in two hours, but refused to leave me alone until I had perfected it... **

**There you go.**

**~*SailorSilvanesti/Phoenix Fire*~**


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